Everton Outplay Newcastle United 3–1 in Pre-Season Clash
Everton 3–1 Newcastle United
Blues outplay new-look Magpies in sharp Murrayfield tune‑up
Ten days from the Premier League kick-off, Everton found a welcome dose of rhythm in an unlikely setting. Under the lights at Murrayfield Stadium, in front of a Scottish crowd more used to rucks than rondos, David Moyes’s side dismantled a reshaped Newcastle United 3–1 with a performance full of bite, control and flashes of real class.
This was supposed to be a test of where both clubs stand after turbulent summers. Everton arrived from a 3–1 defeat at Stuttgart, their pre-season form patchy. Newcastle turned up in pink, under new head coach Matthias Jaissle, with Eddie Howe gone and Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes all sold. One club searching for sharpness, the other for a new identity.
Everton, on this evidence, are a step further along.
Branthwaite rests, Patterson nods to home
The headline before kick-off was who did not play. Jarrad Branthwaite, back from the hamstring injury that ended last season, was left out of the matchday squad as part of a planned reintegration programme. He had captained Everton and played 80 minutes in Stuttgart, adding to starts against Bolton Wanderers and Hamburg, and will stay in full training at Finch Farm before featuring in the final warm-up against LOSC Lille at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
In his absence, James Tarkowski and Michael Keane anchored the defence. Nathan Patterson started at right-back, a neat nod to his Scottish roots in Edinburgh, while new faces like Norgaard and Johnson remained on the sidelines, still waiting to be fully folded into Moyes’s plans. Tim Iroegbunam also missed out after his early withdrawal in Stuttgart.
Slow start, sudden punch
Newcastle, “pretty in pink” and eager to impress their new boss, made the sharper start. Travers had to deal with an early lob from Wissa, and for five minutes Everton barely laid a boot on the ball. The first corner went to the Magpies, Travers gathering calmly to steady the Blues.
Everton’s early response was nervy. Barry was fouled driving through midfield, only for the free-kick to be rolled backwards and squandered. Ndiaye suffered the same fate, winning a foul that ended with Travers almost gifting possession away with a loose clearance. Mykolenko twisted himself into trouble, Elanga pouncing and forcing Travers into a superb parry to his right.
Then the game flipped.
On 14 minutes, Everton finally played forward with purpose. Patterson whipped in a superb cross to the far post, Dewsbury-Hall just a stride short. Hackney snapped into a tackle to break up a Newcastle attack and found Barry, who looked to be fouled again. Dewsbury-Hall and George combined beautifully to release the youngster on a driving run, only for him to hold on too long and waste the opening. Twice more George threatened, twice the final ball let him down.
Newcastle tried to wrestle back control. Wissa went down in the box under minimal contact from Hackney, but the referee waved away the penalty appeals. Toure curled in another dangerous delivery from the left. Everton, though, had settled. The passing grew cleaner, the confidence higher.
Then came the turning point.
Hackney was robbed in midfield and Wissa looked certain to score, only for Tarkowski to time a brilliant challenge. In an instant, Everton were away on the counter. Keane lofted the ball forward, Barry misjudged the first contact but recovered brilliantly, wriggling past two defenders. A last-ditch tackle halted him, yet the loose ball fell to Armstrong, who slipped in Theirno Barry. One touch, then a cool, low finish across the keeper into the far corner. Everton 1–0, 28 minutes gone, and the Scottish air suddenly felt lighter for the travelling Blues.
Ndiaye from the spot, Blues in control
Barry, now brimming with confidence, kept driving at Newcastle. Joelinton hauled him down, but again the free-kick went backwards and the chance drifted away. No matter. The pressure was building.
A slick move saw Ndiaye denied by the Magpies’ new goalkeeper, a chance that should have killed the contest even earlier. It didn’t take long for the next opening.
Mykolenko fed Dewsbury-Hall inside the box, Joelinton clattered in with another overly robust challenge and this time the referee pointed straight to the spot. Iliman Ndiaye stepped up in the 35th minute and sent the keeper the wrong way, a calm, assured penalty that underlined Everton’s growing authority.
Patterson then underlined his value with a thunderous tackle on Joelinton, surging down the right. The move broke down when Dewsbury-Hall hesitated on the ball, eventually rolling it across to George, who found a wall of pink shirts in front of him.
The frustration began to show in Newcastle’s play. Wissa flew into a nasty challenge and escaped with only a free-kick against him, Tarkowski making his feelings clear. Ndiaye nicked the ball off Hall and was harshly penalised, the Blayden Races chorus starting to sound more strained as Everton’s back line stayed firm.
Armstrong, increasingly influential, drew another foul from Joelinton, but again the set-piece came to nothing. Toure forced Tarkowski to head behind for a corner, which fizzled out. Everton went in 2–0 up at the break, and fully deserved it.
Newcastle ring the changes, Travers stands tall
Jaissle responded with wholesale changes at half-time, and the fresh legs almost paid off immediately. Jacob Murphy darted in behind Mykolenko and fired low, Travers springing to his right to make an excellent save.
Everton were not flawless. Hackney sent a fine ball over the top for Barry, whose first touch deserted him. George flashed a tremendous cross toward Ndiaye only for the bounce to beat the forward and skip out of play. When Mykolenko finally got forward, his cross was wild, drawing groans from the away end.
But the Blues’ passing triangles grew sharper. Dewsbury-Hall glided through midfield, Hackney teed up George for his trademark curler, the shot bending just beyond the far angle. At the other end, Mykolenko was beaten on the overlap, only for the flag to spare him.
Everton then slowed the tempo, keeping the ball but often retreating to Travers, almost inviting Newcastle to chase shadows. Barry darted inside and was clipped by Miley, presenting Dewsbury-Hall with a free-kick he curled around the wall and towards the post, the keeper stretching to push it behind.
George saw another effort blocked, Hackney produced a delightful one-two with the winger and went down in the box, the referee unmoved. Ndiaye cut inside and blazed over. Mykolenko, stung by earlier slips, defended his flank well, helping clear a Newcastle corner. Barry then led a promising break, only to ruin it with a poor pass.
On the hour, Moyes turned to his bench. Ndiaye, Dewsbury-Hall and Barry made way for Dibling, Alcaraz and Beto, while Patterson had already been replaced by Röhl. The shape held. The energy did not drop.
George steals the show
Everton’s third goal was worth the ticket alone.
The move started deep, with Everton playing out confidently from the back. George picked up the ball and drove at the Newcastle defence, head up, scanning. He exchanged crisp passes with Armstrong, who showed real composure, pausing on the ball before threading a stunning reverse pass into George’s path. The youngster spun like a ballerina, body balanced, and smashed a low shot into the net. Tyrique George, 73 minutes, a moment of pure quality and a goal he will replay in his head all the way back to Merseyside.
Before that, George had already started to torment his full-back. He won a corner after another direct run, Hackney’s delivery to the far post just lacking a finishing touch. Dibling, on the opposite flank, beat his man and whipped in a decent cross with no one gambling in the middle. Armstrong kept knitting play together, only to be rugby-tackled by Ramsey, who somehow escaped a booking.
Aznou, on for Mykolenko, surged forward from left-back, picked out by George, his cross blocked at the last moment. Everton’s football flowed now – one- and two-touch combinations, quick switches of play, the kind of pre-season patterns managers crave.
Newcastle, though, refused to leave empty-handed. Murphy finally broke the Everton line down the right and delivered a superb cross. Barnes arrived to clip home, a sharp finish that gave Travers no chance and at least put some gloss on the scoreline for the Magpies.
A statement, of sorts
When the whistle went, the scoreboard read Everton 3, Newcastle United 1. The names on it mattered: Theirno Barry, Iliman Ndiaye, Tyrique George. Young, hungry, and fearless.
For Moyes, the night ticked several boxes. The defence, marshalled by Tarkowski and Keane, stood up to long spells of early pressure. Travers looked assured. Patterson impressed on home soil. Armstrong knitted midfield together with a quiet authority. George, in particular, offered a glimpse of something more exciting than a routine friendly win.
Jaissle, by contrast, saw the scale of his task. A new era, new colours, and a squad shorn of its former spine looked disjointed and short of cohesion.
Pre-season can lie. It often does. But with Lille up next and the league campaign just around the corner, Everton’s performance in Edinburgh felt like more than a run-out. It looked like a team beginning to believe it can carry this edge into the real thing.
